Sherri Jaquays

Coming from a Jewish family and being raised by a single mother and her older sister that later came out, had it's own set of challenges. Sherri moved from South Florida to the rural mountains of North Carolina in October 1998 with her husband Rusty and daughter Anna. Eight years later she gave birth to her youngest daughter Lauren who had special needs. Sherri became a public school advocate in the High Country of NC , a voice for the teachers and a voice for every student. When her youngest daughter Lauren "came out" at the age of 12 she then became a voice along with Sherri to make sure that there was support and GSA's in all the schools in the rural communities of the south. She knew that there were children not as fortunate as she was with support at home. She had witnessed the bullying and knew what it was like to keep a secret. We started High Country LGBTQ Youth Alliance in January of 2015, Lauren passed in a tragic accident July 2015. We continue to do Lauren's work. It is important for the health and safety of the lgbtq youth in our country to have a place to turn to for support and encouragement so they can succeed in all their endeavors.